National Authorities.

The European Accessibility Act (EAA) relies on national authorities for implementation, enforcement, and oversight. Each EU Member State must designate appropriate authorities and provide them with the necessary resources and powers to fulfill their responsibilities under the EAA.

The national authorities play a crucial role in ensuring:

• Products and services meet accessibility requirements
• Economic operators fulfill their obligations
• Complaints from consumers are addressed
• Non-compliant products and services are identified and corrected
• Information about compliance is shared across the EU

Market surveillance authorities (MSAs) are responsible for ensuring that products placed on the market comply with EAA requirements. Each Member State must:

• Designate MSAs - Establish or identify existing agencies responsible for market surveillance of accessibility-related aspects of products
• Ensure adequate resources - Provide MSAs with the necessary resources, expertise, and powers to effectively carry out their duties
• Define procedures - Establish procedures for verifying compliance and handling non-compliant products
• Enable information sharing - Ensure MSAs can share information with authorities in other Member States

MSAs typically include consumer protection agencies, product safety authorities, or specialized accessibility regulation bodies, depending on the Member State's administrative structure.

National authorities under the EAA are granted specific powers and responsibilities, including:

• Product verification - Authority to inspect and test products to verify compliance with accessibility requirements
• Documentation review - Power to request and review technical documentation, EU declarations of conformity, and other compliance documentation
• Service assessment - Authority to assess whether services comply with the applicable accessibility requirements
• Enforcement measures - Power to:
  • Require economic operators to take corrective action
  • Withdraw non-compliant products from the market
  • Prohibit or restrict the provision of non-compliant services
  • Impose penalties for non-compliance
• Complaint handling - Responsibility to receive and investigate complaints from consumers regarding non-compliant products and services
• Reporting - Obligation to report to the European Commission on enforcement activities and market surveillance

In addition to market surveillance authorities, Member States may designate notified bodies to carry out specific conformity assessment tasks:

• Competence assessment - Member States must assess and verify that notified bodies have the necessary expertise, independence, and resources
• Third-party verification - Notified bodies provide independent verification of product conformity with accessibility requirements
• Technical assessment - They evaluate technical documentation and conduct product tests when required
• Certificate issuance - Issue certificates of conformity for products that meet the requirements

While the EAA primarily relies on manufacturers' self-declaration of conformity for most products, notified bodies may play a role in specific cases or when additional verification is needed.

To ensure consistent application of the EAA across Member States, several coordination mechanisms exist:

• ADCO Groups - Administrative Cooperation Groups bring together representatives from national market surveillance authorities to coordinate enforcement activities
• Information exchange systems - Platforms for sharing information about non-compliant products, enforcement decisions, and best practices
• European Commission oversight - The Commission monitors implementation and provides guidance to national authorities
• Stakeholder involvement - Consultation with organizations representing persons with disabilities and economic operators

These coordination mechanisms help prevent fragmentation and ensure that economic operators face consistent requirements and enforcement across the EU.

For economic operators, understanding the role of national authorities has several practical implications:

• Documentation readiness - Operators should maintain complete and up-to-date documentation to respond to authority requests promptly
• Cooperation procedures - Establish internal procedures for cooperating with national authorities during inspections or compliance checks
• Multiple market awareness - Be aware that products or services marketed in multiple EU countries may be subject to checks by authorities in any Member State
• Communication channels - Maintain open channels with relevant authorities for guidance on compliance questions
• Complaint management - Implement robust complaint handling systems, as consumer complaints may be forwarded to or investigated by national authorities

Proactive engagement with national authorities can help economic operators stay ahead of compliance issues and demonstrate commitment to accessibility.